Riley's first few weeks...

No one could have prepared me for having a new baby.  Between the recovery and the total sleep deprivation, I wasn't feeling the best.  Luke was able to take a couple weeks off work and I was so thankful for his help.  It was nice trying to figure out this whole parenting thing together. 

Riley had  a lot of trouble learning to nurse when she was first born.  In fact, it took her 3 weeks to figure it all out and get her back to her birth weight, but as you will soon see she is growing like a weed now! After she was nursing well, then she become colicky and spit up A LOT! But once we figured everything out we started to get used to each other and have a lot of fun.

Lots of friends and family came to visit to meet Riley and we made our first trip home when she was only 9 days old for family pictures.  That was very nerve racking but she did great. Looking back now, newborns were a lot easier to travel with than 4 month olds since all they did back then was sleep.

I can't believe how big she is getting already so I just love looking back at these first pictures of her.

Introducing Riley Elizabeth.....born Oct 13, 2011

I woke up at 4 in the morning and noticed some contractions but didn't think much about it because they weren't painful.  I started timing them and they were only a few minutes apart but went back to bed anyway.  At around 7 when Luke woke up for work, I told him he should probably wait and take me to the doctor and see if I was in labor because I still wasn't sure.  The contractions were still coming but still weren't painful.  The doctor told me to go ahead and go to the hospital and she would check me there. 

So we got to the hospital around 9am and sure enough I was in active labor!  Around 10 the doctor came and broke my water.....and then the true back labor started. Made it til about 11:30 and I was dilated to a 5 so I went ahead and got an epidural.......what bliss!  No more pain after that!  Found out I was complete around 3pm and pushed her out at 4:02pm.

So here are the stats and some of Riley's first pictures...
Born October 13, 2011 at 4:02pm
8 lbs even and 21.5 inches long

Riley is HERE! Or I should say has been for 3 1/2 months!

WOW!  I am soooo far behind.  And here I thought I would have more time to blog once Riley was here!  I was so wrong.  But finally I feel like I have time to get things done around the house and even a little extra to blog!

I will try to spend  the next few weeks updating everything in order so you don't miss anything important.

All I can say right now is that Riley is such a blessing in our lives and while tough to adjust to motherhood at first, now I cannot imagine life without her!

Bridal Showers and Maternity Pics

Getting close to D Day!  Went to the doctor today and they said it could be any time!  But if my family history says anything, I still wont go on my own til at least my due date!

Once baby girl is here I will try to update more often, but here are a lot of pictures from the last few weeks...

Our Trip To Peoria...

A couple weeks ago we headed to Peoria for Sara and Trey's wedding.  It was beautiful and we had a lot of fun seeing all our friends.  We also headed to the riverfront to re-visit the place where we got engaged almost 7 years ago.

The last few weeks

August has been pretty busy so far.  Seems like every weekend has been taken up.  A few weeks ago we went to our friends Alison and Ryan's parents farm near Rockford.  We had a great time getting away from home for a few days.  Luke had quite the weekend.  He managed to fall off a horse and almost get thrown off of a 4-wheeler too.  Guess he really is a city boy.  But he was all right and had a lot of fun anyway.

We also spent a weekend getting the nursery ready.  I don't have pictures yet but do have one of our new guest room we created in the basement.  Since we only have 2 bedrooms, we needed to clear out the room so our nursery furniture could go in the other bedroom.  We have a huge basement, but unfortunately it is unfinished.  So with help from John and Jeanne, we transformed one corner of the basement to a new guest room.  Turned out pretty good!

Last Monday I went to see my friends Jamie and Steve in Bloomington to meet there new little guy Parker.  He was born on August 1st.

This last weekend our friends Shannon and Wes came to Chicago for a visit.  We spent one day at the planetarium museum and one day at the Air and Water show.